The Ban on Letting Agent Fees

On 1 November 2017 the Government introduced a draft Tenant Fees Bill to Parliament to ban letting fees for tenants.

On 7 April 2017, the Government launched an eight week consultation seeking views on the detail of how a ban should be introduced. The consultation closed on 2 June and 4,724 responses were received from a range of individuals and representative bodies.

The responses to the consultation have informed the Government’s approach and publishing the Bill in draft will ensure that there is scrutiny of the Government’s proposals by parliamentarians and stakeholders before introducing legislation.

The Welsh Government have launched a consultation on the fees charged to tenants in the private rented sector. The launch of the consultation comes after the Welsh Government announced on the 27 June that they will take legislative action to prevent ‘unfair’ fees.

The consultation seeks views on the nature and level of fees being charged to tenants. It seeks to determine which fees, if any, are justifiably being charged to tenants. It also seeks information on fees paid by landlords to agents, and also on the possible consequence of banning fees.

Preparing Your Business

Industry leaders and suppliers are presenting a wide range of offers in response to the Draft Tenant Fees Bill. While ARLA Propertymark does not endorse these plans, letting agents need to consider a wide variety of suggestions covering all areas of their business, before making changes to their own business model.

The legislation is in draft form, it is still subject to amendments which will shape any eventual Act of Parliament and letting agents need to continue to talk to MPs to ensure that legislators understand all of the issues – not simply the headlines – before passing anything into law. Letting agents need to be aware that while many of the ideas presented will support agents in delivering a quality service despite not being able to charge fees to tenants, some of the ideas currently being offered as solutions may also be subject to an eventual ban.

Property Agents Circle Beating the Tenant Fee Ban, in Your Business

Property Agents Circle has developed a package to help letting agencies beat the Tenant Fee Ban. They will help you optimise your income and get paid for the services you already deliver. While explaining how to structure your agency to streamline processes and ensure quality standards.

LetMC Tenant Fee Ban Business Plan

LetMC has been speaking to their customers about the inevitability of the ban on fees and how they intend to deal with it. Following these conversations, LetMC has created a comprehensive 24-page business plan.